Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon - Chapter 7

When Jinhyuk asked if he could receive the new equipment right away, the Dwarf let out a big snort.

“Why would I give you one from my collection? The things that I sell and the things that I collect are completely different, kid.”

It was foolish for him to even ask why the dwarf collects swords and spears.

Whatever hobby someone is interested in is up to them, and no one can say otherwise.

“Hoo… Then please just tell me exactly how a Mithril looks like.”

“It won’t make any difference. Just go and you’ll know which one it is.”

“You’re not trying to trick me are you?”

“Sigh, have you been fooled all your life, kid?”

“More than you’d know.”

“Aigoo, okay. You’re the boss.”

The dwarf made a look of pity and threw the pickaxe he was holding.

“Stop bluffing and just dig me up some Mithril.”

“If I dig those up, will you give me the equipment that you made?”

“That’s right. Hurry up and go before I change my mind.”

Anyone he knew would be shocked if they knew about the dwarf doing such a thing.

The dwarf wasn’t the type to work at the request of others.

He usually only lifts his hammer to improve his collection for self-satisfaction.

“I’m just helping you this time because I’m surprised that you brought me some alcohol, kid. I said hurry up and go before I change my mind.”

* * *

Jinhyuk was practically pushed by the dwarf as he was forced to find a way to head to the floor below this one.

Kang Jinhyuk suddenly got worried while he was wandering in a labyrinth with no map.

“Maybe Mithril is just some common metal just like the oriharukon?”

Just as the oriharukon was common aluminum in his world, maybe Mithril was also a common material like copper or iron.

“I’m not even sure if I’m doing the right thing.”

If the Mithril was actually a soft metal like copper, it would be useless to make equipment out of it.

“Ey, let’s stop thinking about useless things already.”

Jinhyuk swung his bat with a cheerful shout to shake off his worries.

He reached level 33 when he broke some goblin’s heads. Just in time, he discovered a staircase.

“So this is the stairs leading down.”

It was great luck that he found the stairs faster than expected in this intricate labyrinth.

Kang Jinhyuk went down the stairs with a nervous face, thinking that a stronger monster might appear.

While heading downwards, his eyes became round as he saw the drastically changed environment.

The further he reached downstairs, the brown-colored walls of the labyrinth had changed.

What is now in front of Jinhyuk was a green maze, where the cries of grass bugs were heard as if imitating a forest environment.

“The labyrinth is decorated in a unique way.”

Perhaps it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but the air in here felt clearer than from the upper floor.

Right when Jinhyuk stepped on the ground, an unfamiliar notification appeared to him.

[Current Location – Floor 2 ‘The Labyrinth of Dogs and Skulls’]

[Do you wish to save this place as a warp point?]

“W-warp point?”

It was his first time hearing of it.

He’s not sure what it meant, but he had to choose between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.

“Eh, whatever.”

After a brief thought, Jinhyuk chose ‘Yes’.

[Floor 2 saved as a warp point.]

After the message appeared, a gate that looked like a purple vortex appeared in front of him.

[From here on, you can go back and forth between Floor 1 and Floor 2 through this gate.]

Thanks to the kind explanation of the notification, Jinhyuk was able to understand the purpose of the gate.

“Hah! It feels like I’m playing a game.

Catching monsters and levelling in the dungeon made him feel like he’s in a game.

But the life of a human was far from being a game.

If he’s caught off guard here, it’ll be over for him because humans have no ability to respawn. 

Jinhyuk took out his radar to see if there were monsters around him.

The radar showed several spots waiting right in front of him.

“This floor’s packed.”

He picked up a stone from the floor and threw it toward the forked road.

And then, monsters with dog heads popped out from behind the wall.

It was a monster with the head of a dog, walking on two feet and wielding a weapon.

Jinhyuk recognized them as ‘kobold’ monsters.

“The title said it was a maze of dog skulls, but a real dog came out here…”

Kobolds were more agile and powerful than goblins, but they belong to the same tier of messy monsters

Kang Jinhyuk burst into laughter as he watched the kobold approach him.

Having a lot of these weak monsters meant that he could earn some money off of them.

He naturally laughed when he thought of his bank account balance piling up because of these monsters.

On the other hand, the kobolds looked confused at Jinhyuk’s reaction.

They clearly outnumbered him, but the human who came here all alone had the audacity to giggle and laugh.

That hurt the kobold’s pride so it snarled forward.

“Keung!”

The kobold barked in a loud voice and immediately rushed toward Jinhyuk.

However, before he could even take out his sword, the kobold was hit on the face by the bat wielded by Kang Jinhyuk.

Catching the goblins and the orcs made Jinhyuk level up significantly, so the kobolds were no match for him.

“Keeeong!”

The kobold was sent all the way back like a ball, with its snout completely crushed.

Just like that, the kobold collapsed on the floor and could no longer move.

While the other kobolds were in disbelief of the situation, Jinhyuk approached with relaxed steps.

“You’re getting hit like normal dogs today, you punks.”

His confidence was soaring among the clouds after he caught those two orcs by himself.

These puppies were no big deal compared to the presence of the orcs which could instill fear just by looking at them.

“Keung!”

“Ku kkeung!”

The dogs barked and whimpered with every swing of his bat.

 There was no kobald that could withstand more than one hit of Jinhyuk’s bat.

His new inventory had been filled with 25 kobold bodies in no time.

Based on the price set by the association, he’d soon get 200 million won when he sells these corpses!

Since Lee Juncheol said he would pay 15% more, Jinhyuk’s profit was way more than that number.

“Hahahaha….!”

He could already smell the money.

He then proceeded to explore the forest.

The kobolds who thought that they were superior beings now realize how it feels to be prey.

Even if they ran deep into the labyrinth, Jinhyuk didn’t give up and chased after each one of them.

“Where are you running to, you bastards!”

* * *

While Jinhyuk was enjoying hunting for kobolds without the interference of large guilds, he had already reached the center of the labyrinth.

He stopped running after discovering a wall of a different color in the center of the labyrinth.

“I don’t think this color change is for no reason….”

Jinhyuk trusted his guts and followed the black wall.

The black wall withered in the labyrinth from the lack of sunlight, but he could see just fine without the use of a flashlight.

He’s not sure what kind of technology was set up here, but torches on the wall automatically burned one by one and illuminated the depths.

“Did the dwarf ahjussi install these?”

Jinhyuk slowly moved forward, careful with his steps.

When he reached further enough, he started to hear a rattling sound from somewhere.

He looked back and forth before discovering the human skeleton, upright and walking by itself.

“S**t! That’s a skeleton, right?”

Jinhyuk recalled that this floor was named ‘Labyrinth of Dogs and Skulls’

He sighed as he hit the skeleton head with his bat.

Unlike the other monsters, the skeleton did not die even though its head flew away.

The skeleton, with only its body intact, kept going towards Jinhyuk.

“Out of all things, the monsters worth no money are here…!”

The way to deal with a skeleton is to hire a ‘Cleric’ hunter, or to break the skeleton’s magic stone to immobilize it.

Jinhyuk, a D-rank hunter who is yet to choose his specialty, had to go with the latter method.

He would’ve happily accepted this cumbersome task if it meant he’d gain some money, but unfortunately, the skeleton was nothing but bones and is not worth that much.

Who would even pay for rotten bones, which are neither precious nor durable materials?

Aside from that, the skeleton’s magic stone, which is the only thing valuable, had to be broken to defeat the monster. No wonder hunters find them annoying. 

“So this is why that ahjussi didn’t want to come down here.”

Jinhyuk faced dozens of skeletons blocking his way.

Defeating them one by one wouldn’t be difficult, but it will take a long time to take on that many monsters.

“Okay, let’s do this!”

He came all the way here, so he won’t back down now.

Jinhyuk swung his bat recklessly and broke through the path that the skeletons were blocking.

It was easy to aim for their vital point which contained the magic stone because he could see through the fleshless bones.

However, the number of skeletons was so large that it took a considerable amount of time for him.

No matter how much he hit and hit, the number of skeletons was not decreasing.

“Please, just die already!”

He occasionally missed the skeletons’ vital point, and it has been dragging him down and interfering with his progress.

Whenever that happened, Jinhyuk moved forward by crushing the skeleton with his feet.

Ten, fifty, a hundred.

After catching up to 120 skeletons, Jinhyuk gave up on counting.

After nearly half a day of labor, Jinhyuk finally broke through the bone tomb and was able to reach the depths of the labyrinth.

“Hoo hooo….”

He became out of breath as he was swinging his bat without a break for a while.

After confirming that there were no more skeletons chasing or blocking the road, Jinhyuk sat down for a while to catch his breath.

“It’s not even an underground tomb. Why were there so many skulls…”

He moved his body until he reached exhaustion, but he wouldn’t get any profit from it.

But that didn’t mean that there was no reward.

Thanks to the hundreds of skeletons that he hunted, his level is now in the ’50s.

He was able to increase his level from 12 to 50 in two days because of the dungeon.

If he was living the same life as before, it would’ve taken him two or three years to reach level 50.

If he takes into consideration the greedy guilds, it might take a lot longer than that.

[Level 50 reached. You may now choose your specialty.]

[Your specialty will be automatically determined by reviewing your recent activity.]

The time he had waited for finally came.

Since he swung his bat tirelessly for two days, he expected his specialty to be ‘warrior’.

However, the results were not what he expected.

[You, who have conquered the undead, are now a ‘Cleric’.]

[Skill Acquired – Slow Heel]

[Skill Acquired – Cure]

[Skill Acquired – Holy Shield]

“….Eh?”

Kang Jinhyuk rechecked the notification with a puzzled look.

“Cleric? Me?”

He never thought he would get that specialty just by beating skeletons.

It was certainly something to celebrate, because that specialty ranked number 1 as the most preferred by parties.

However, Jinhyuk felt absurd rather than happy because the selection process took an unexpected turn.